This invention relates to a combined protective bib and tray product for use during the feeding of infants or invalids, and more particularly to a disposable bib-tray product inexpensively fabricated from suitably stiff and tear resistant thin sheet material such as paper.
In the course of the feeding of infants, portions of food may become deposited on the infant or his clothes, or on the surface on which the food and eating utensils are placed for serving purposes. Protective sheet-like garments, generally known as bibs, which depend from the infant's neck have been utilized to minimize the deposition of food on the infant and to simplify clean-up after the meal. Such protective garments are also useful with invalids or handicapped persons. The soiled bib may be re-used after cleaning, or discarded if economically feasible.
In the confines of the home, the tray or table on which the food is placed for serving is of known cleanliness, and proper cleaning materials and equipment are available for proper maintenance of clean sanitary conditions. When traveling with infants, it is often found necessary to feed the infant in a commercial restaurant where the tables or tray-equipped infant's high chair may be in an unknown or obviously unsatisfactory state of cleanliness. Under such circumstances it is also inconvenient or impossible to conduct a thorough cleaning of the tray or table surface prior to use, or clean the infant, the bib, and the tray or table after the feeding session.
The use of inexpensive baby's bibs which are intended to be discarded following a single use have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 24043, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 232,276, and elsewhere. Although such products minimize the effort required in keeping the infant clean, they do not protect the infant from the potential consequences of an unsanitary tray surface. Such products have also generally been unable to adjust to different neck sizes.
Bibs provided with an integrally attached lap or tray portion have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,108,557, wherein the purpose of the tray portion is primarily to prevent food from falling between the infant and the table or other food supporting surface. The bib-tray structure of said U.S. Pat. No. 1,108,557 is not intended as an expendable item to be discarded after a single use. It also lacks adjustability in its dimensions, thereby necessitating various sizes of the bib-tray to accommodate wearers of different heights. Another shortcoming of the bib-tray of U.S. Pat. No. 1,108,557 is that it lacks adjustability with respect to the distance separating the wearer from the serving surface.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive, expendable item to be worn by infants or invalids during their feeding. It is another object to provide an expendable item to be worn by infants during their feeding for protection of the infant from being soiled by the food and for provision of a sanitary serving surface. It is a still further object of this invention to provide an expendable item of the aforesaid nature having features of adjustability to accomodate wearers having various heights and neck sizes and to span various distances between the wearer and a table. Other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.